With so many good to amazing games out there not getting played, players may ask why they should bother with an experience that is labeled as a terrible game. Some games are indeed terrible with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, like Duke Nukem Forever, and then there are games so weird that they must be seen to be believed.
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Maybe not everything about these types of games is bad, including the gameplay, story, or maybe even music. Whatever the case may be, these games became infamous for being so bad they’re good. They will be ranked based on their quality and how much of an impact they have had on gaming culture.
Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing
The Great American Dream
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
- Released
- November 20, 2003
WHERE TO PLAY
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing can be summed up in this classic GameSpot review, which will give players all they need to know. This game barely functions as advertised, with there being a very limited number of tracks and trucks to race with, not to mention there not being any other racers to race against.
More so than the lack of content, players can drive anywhere, including through buildings, mountains, and they can even sink into the ground, which may sound bad, and it is, but there’s also something hypnotically satisfying about driving a big rig into the sky. It’s incredible, Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing launched in this state in 2003, and even more baffling that it was re-released on Steam in 2025.
Wanted: Dead
Beyond Bizarre
Wanted: Dead
- Released
- February 14, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Soleil
- Genre(s)
- Hack and Slash, Third-Person Shooter
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
Wanted: Dead is an action game that wants to be Ninja Gaiden so bad. As the protagonist, Lt. Stone, players will go into long and drawn-out shooting matches in levels, but even though they are armed with plenty of artillery, guns barely do any damage. Stone’s katana is the way to go, and her combos are incredibly bloody, but also unsatisfying to pull off.
Worst of all, the checkpoints are barely there as players can even fight mini-bosses, die afterward, and go back to the beginning. It can be frustrating, but the poorly acted characters, especially the wildly stilted performance coming out of Stone, have some awkward charisma that is charming.
Cho Aniki: Kyuukyoku Muteki Ginga Saikyou Otoko
What Am I Even Looking At?
- Developer: Masaya
- Publisher: Nippon Computer Systems
- Platform: PS1
- Release Date: 12/29/95 (Japan)
Cho Aniki: Kyuukyoku Muteki Ginga Saikyou Otoko, roughly translated to Super Big Brother: The Ultimate, Most Powerful Man in the Milky Way, is just beyond bizarre. At its core, this Japanese PS1 game is a horizontal SHMUP, but instead of controlling a spaceship and shooting down aliens or other spacecraft, players are a burly man, shooting down other burly men in various outfits.
All characters are digitized sprites of real humans, giving the game a more uncanny valley edge. It’s not the best SHMUP around as it lacks good controls or consistent power-ups, but the bizarre nature of levels is guaranteed to keep players glued to their screen.
Shadow The Hedgehog
This Hedgehog Has A Gun
Shadow the Hedgehog
- Released
- December 15, 2005
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E 10+ // Fantasy Violence, Mild Language
- Genre(s)
- Platformer, Action-Adventure, Third-Person Shooter
Shadow the Hedgehog is one of the wildest spin-offs in the Sonic game catalog, starring the titular Shadow on a revenge quest. Players can be good or evil, with the evil campaign being more fun and fitting, given the chaos players can create.
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As the box art teases, Shadow does indeed have a gun and can attack human soldiers along with robots and other alien creatures. That novelty alone makes the game worthwhile to check out, and while it lacks the polish of other 3D Sonic games, from level variety to the controls, it’s also not the worst 3D platformer out there.
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos
Zombie Slaying Samurai
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos
- Released
- July 21, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Tamsoft
- Genre(s)
- Hack and Slash
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4, PC
The Onechanbara series is infamous, mostly in Japan, for being a low-budget action game starring bikini-clad and schoolgirl heroines slashing zombies with katanas like they were in a B-movie from the 1960s. Very few entries have left Japan, but Onechanbara Z2: Chaos did, and it’s one of the better games to recommend.
For the series, the frame rate and graphics are better than most, but it’s still incredibly repetitive and risqué, which not all players will enjoy. That said, the Onechanbara series knows what it is and proudly displays itself for all to enjoy, so anyone looking to slay hundreds of zombies and cover women in blood, Onechanbara Z2: Chaos is it.
Night Trap
The Most Gruesome Game Of All Time
Night Trap
- Released
- October 15, 1992
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Strategy
Night Trap was once touted as one of the most vile and sickening games of all time, but that label was put onto by legislators who had no idea what the game actually was. It’s an FMV adventure game with very little input. Players take on the role of a security guard who can control traps to prevent enemies from killing anyone at this teen party, and they can switch camera angles to stay vigilant.
The live-action segments are incredibly cheesy, barely violent at all, and overall, it’s VERY short. The game can be a bit unfair and unresponsive, but the theme song, “Night Trap” by Kris Komar, is undeniably catchy, and there is a certain level of charm to the cheesy dialogue.
Pepsiman
Gotta Get That Cola
Pepsiman
- Released
- March 4, 1999
- Developer(s)
- KID
- Publisher(s)
- KID
- Genre(s)
- Action
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation (Original)
Pepsiman is another PS1 game that never left Japan, which is strange because it’s advertising an American product, Pepsi Cola, and it has live-action cutscenes with English spoken dialogue. In between these live-action segments featuring Pepsi’s number one fan, players, as the superhero Pepsiman, will run through the streets, collecting Pepsi and dodging obstacles.
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The theme song exclaiming, “Pepsiman!” Will be a hard one to get out of one’s head. It’s a simple game with nothing groundbreaking about the gameplay, and of course, the dialogue is bad and bizarre, but Pepsiman is short and easy enough to get through, so it can also be a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon.
50 Cent: Blood On The Sand
Where’s My Skull
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand
- Released
- February 20, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter
50 Cent: Blood in the Sand is fully voiced by the rapper and his G-Unit posse, who go to the Middle East to perform a concert. 50 Cent gets paid with a crystal skull, which is then stolen, leading to an all-out war between terrorists and the G-Unit. This is 100% the plot, not the sketch outline for a Funny or Die video from the early 2000s.
This cover shooter is no Gears of War or Uncharted, but the gameplay is decent enough for what it is to see the plot through alone, or even better with a co-op partner. Plus, the soundtrack is off the hook since 50 Cent licensed most of his best tracks for it.
Deadly Premonition
The King Of Kings
Deadly Premonition
- Released
- February 23, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
Deadly Premonition is practically the poster child for games so bad they are good, and that’s because of the characters and bizarre story, and not much else. As a survival horror game, it’s neither scary nor challenging, and the open-world design, thanks to the car mechanics, makes exploring less worthwhile.
All of that doesn’t matter, though, because the FBI protagonist, Francis York Morgan, is beyond energetic and endearing. From the way he enjoys food to his love of movies, players will be enraptured with how this mystery unfolds with Morgan behind the wheel. Among all of these games, Deadly Premonition is the one worth struggling through to understand how iconic Morgan truly is as a protagonist, and not in an ironic way.
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